News
Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 22-and-a-Half Years for Murder of George Floyd – Less Than Maximum Possible Sentence

Thirteen months to the day he murdered George Floyd former police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22.5 years after being found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Court sentences Chauvin to 270 months (22.5 years).
— Katie S. Phang (@KatiePhang) June 25, 2021
The sentence is less than the maximum possible. Prosecutors had asked for 30 years.
Judge Peter Cahill sentences Derek Chauvin to 22.5 years in prison — 10 years more than the presumptive sentence, but less than the 30 years the prosecution requested. pic.twitter.com/l6Wy3sqmyZ
— The Recount (@therecount) June 25, 2021
Video showing Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck for nine and a half minutes led Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill last month to declare Chauvin was “particularly cruel” for killing Floyd slowly, as NBC News reported.
Judge Cahill announced he has written a 22-page explanation of “how I determined the sentence” in the case.
“We have to acknowledge the pain of the Floyd family,” he urged.
Attorney Benjamin Crump appears to support the sentence:
22.5 YEARS! This historic sentence brings the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to healing by delivering closure and accountability.
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) June 25, 2021
Cahill and many Americans across the nation listened to victim impact statements from four members of Floyd’s family, including a recorded video from his young daughter Gianna Floyd.
“We used to have dinner every single night before we went to bed,” Gianna said. “My daddy always used to help me brush my teeth.”
“I want to play with him, have fun, go on a plane ride,” she added. “I ask about him all the time.”
Derek Chauvin’s mother also spoke to the court, urging mercy, and telling the judge that when he sentences her son he will also be sentencing her. Her remarks were denounced by Nekima Levy Armstrong on MSNBC.
The murder of Floyd, an unarmed Black man whom posed no threat to Chauvin, who is white, sparked nationwide protests and a national reckoning – albeit temporary and transitory – with America’s systemic racism and police brutality. Polls showed a huge swing toward Americans believing racism is a national crisis, only to dissipate and revert months later.
“A majority of Americans say policing should be reformed,” a PBS NewsHour headline last month reads. “But most white people still don’t think police treat Black people differently.”
One year ago this month “60% in a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll described Floyd’s death as murder,” USA Today reported in March, just before the Chauvin trial began, noting “that percentage has now dropped by double digits to 36%.”
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